The New Spinelli
by I'm.The.Tin.Dog
Summary: Freshman year has just started and Spinelli is back from her summer vacation to Italy. Cool right? Not so much, she brought her cousin back with her and things are going to become very different around 3rd Street. TJ D/A. Spinelli. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything (that I'm writing about at least) 'nuff said. _

Spinelli sighed and stared out the plane window. She couldn't believe summer was over, and she was, for the first time, really upset about restarting school. Every other year she had been so excited to see her friends again, and play some good games of kickball, but this year had been the most amazing summer ever. Her and her family had gone to visit her relatives in Italy, Spinelli hadn't seen them since she was eight. It had been cool to eat genuine Italian cuisine, and hang out at the beaches, but the best thing about her vacation had been hanging out with her older cousin Mia.

Mia Spinelli was the _coolest_ person Spinelli had ever met, and that was saying something because Spinelli had met a lot of awesome people. But Mia eclipsed them all. She had black hair, like Spinelli's, but she had it layered and cut short with edgy dark brown streaks in it. She wore lots of eye liner, and always wore the same shade of blood red nail polish, fingers and toes. She had a cool Italian accent, and could speak English and Italian. Mia and Spinelli even shared a mutual interest in alternative music and attitude. Yes, they were a great pair, but besides age (Spinelli is about 14, and Mia is 16 and a half) there was one key variable between the two. While Spinelli had little to no experience with guys, unless you count that "experiment," and Mia had tons. Guys came over the house every day, and cool ones at that! One, named Raul, had taught Spinelli how to surf, and Geo was a great arm wrestler. One time, Spinelli had even caught Mia making out with an Italian hottie, Lance. Spinelli had only had one crush, and it was on her best friend, T.J Detweiler. Although she had never let anyone in on her secret, she had opened up to Mia, who always seemed to know what to do.

Now that the plane she was on was almost home, she checked her reflection in the glass one last time. Her transformation from the previous year was incredible. Her hair had grown out straight, and it now hung down to the middle of her back. She still didn't wear make-up, only cherry chapstick, but her clothes were totally not her. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt with a red skirt and black flip-flops. Spinelli was still uneasy about the make-over, but Mia had convinced her that this was the way to go to get a guy to like you, and to be socially acceptable. Spinelli sighed; she really wished that Mia hadn't blown things so out of proportion. Sure she liked TJ and all, but she didn't have to get all dressed up just to hang out with him and the gang. To be honest, Spinelli would normally have thrown off all that "womping" clothing as soon as they left Mia's house, but Mia's school summer vacation was actually starting now that Spinelli's was done. So, the families had decided to bring the Moretti family back to 3rd street with them where Mia and Spinelli could attend Third Street High. It was both of their first times going, but Spinelli would enter as a frosh and Mia would step right up to junior year.

Spinelli woke up early, and quietly. She didn't want Mia to know that she wasn't going to wear the ugly outfit Mia had chosen for her last night. It was the first day of school and she was gonna wear whatever she wanted, aka her regular clothes.

"Hey, what are you doing Spin? Don't put those gross combat boots on. Oh mio Dio (oh my god in Italian), you look so 2 years ago. You should put the red ruffle skirt on now, and don't forget the white polo or the matching sandals," She paused while a pissed off Spinelli, stomped around the room picking up her clothes. "Oh and Spin," Mia added. "Don't wear that goddamn hat, its like, hard to look at!"

Spinelli and Mia had walked to school together. But since High School didn't star for another hour, Mia decided to chill with Spinelli. Spinelli was still fuming over the clothing incident from that morning. She loved her cousin, and was kind of in awe of her, but Spinelli had her own style and she hated being pushed around. Mia was texting on her phone, making light comments in Italian, and checking her new manicure. But Spinelli didn't want to listen to Mia's jabber, she needed to do something now. Until she hat caught a glimpse of a blonde head of hair in the distance, she hadn't given too much thought to how crazy the whole school was gonna think her new appearance was. 'That must be Mikey!' she thought nervously. Spinelli's mind started to Spin, she had to get rid of Mia! But, how could she just tell Mia to leave? They were almost there, and she still had no idea what to tell them! It was like time was going in slow motion, Spinelli turned her head back from Mia to her friends and back again and again! It was like Spinelli's world was on a collision course, her friends would hate Mia for making Spinelli so…un-Spinelli, and Mia would hate them for being so immature! The whole womping thing was a mess. And suddenly, her friends were there.


	2. Chapter 2

"So Spinelli, did you uh… have a good summer? You look uh weir- different! Yeah, different," TJ stammered nervously. His sentence trailed off making for an incredibly awkward silence. Spinelli's eyes were still racing back and forth, and her mind was still thinking of something, _anything_, that she could say to make the situation seem ok. Meanwhile, her friends were gawking at her, and not in the 'omg! She looks great' kind of way, it was more like the 'is she still Spinelli?' kind of way. Mia was only adding to the tension with her death glare. Mia had instantly judged all her friends and apparently deemed them all unworthy of her attention. In truth (unknown to Spinelli) Mia had little tolerance for young immature children. But she had reasoned that if she had to be stuck with her younger cousin for a few months, that she might as well make a project out of her. It was Mia's little experiment to see if she could make Spinelli, no, hold that thought, Ashley, into a cool, younger version of herself.

"'Scuse me sweetie, but I gotta jet. I'm gonna see if I can find anyone worth meeting," she said while shooting a dirty look at the recess gang. "Ciao Ashley!" and with that she was off in search of some cool friends. The gang stared after Mia, then rounded on Spinelli without saying anything.

"Come on you guys, say something. Look I know this is weird and all, but I told you all about Mia and the plan in my e-mails. It's just for two months. Can you guys just try and tolerate her? She's really cool once you get to know her, trust me," Spinelli pleaded with her upset looking friends. They still said nothing.

"Alright, that's it! If I don't get a word out of one of your mouths right now, I'm gonna beat some out of the bunch of ya!" Spinelli shouted angrily, losing her temper. And finally, to Spinelli's enormous relief, TJ, followed by the rest of her friends cracked a grin.

"There's the Spinelli we know and love! Now about these clothes…yeah they kind of need to go. I can't take you seriously in that frilly skirt, you look like," he shuddered then continued "An Ashley."

"You take that back Detweiler or I'm gonna make you pay for that!" Vince and Mikey grabbed her arms to restrain her. "Aww hell, let me at 'em! Vince, Mikey you're both next!"

"Sorry Spinelli, just testing to make sure it's really you under all that uh… stuff. Is that make-up you're wearing?" TJ asked her.

"SO what if it is," Spinelli shifted uncomfortably. The gang exchanged nervous looks. Where was their old friend who never cared about looking nice, or dressing cool. One thing's for sure, she never got uneasy around them like this before.

"Spinelli what's wrong? I'm sure if you just change back into your regular attire everything will feel fine," Gretchen told her sympathetically. Spinelli wanted Mia's advice to work. She promised that this new make-over would finally get TJ to stop thinking of her as just a friend.

"You guys, it's not an act. This is what I like now. S just deal ok?" observing the disappointed expressions on their faces she softened a little and added

"I'm still the same old Spinelli, just with cooler clothes is all. Now who's up for a game of dodge ball!" She cheered and then her and her once again happy friends dashed off. Spinelli was feeling odd, her feet were really hurting, and she was way behind the rest of the group. Usually when they ran, she was close behind Vince, but now she was trailing Gus and Mikey! Then, glancing down, she realized her problem. She was wearing a flimsy pair of sandals that were giving her feet some really nasty blisters. She sighed dejectedly.

"What's up Spinelli? Why'd ya stop? We're gonna play dodge ball, you love dodge ball!" Vince declared exasperatedly.

"No, I still love it, but.." She trailed off and stared down at her toes. 

"I just kinda don't have the right shoes for it," she mumbled miserably.

"It's cool, you guys play, and I'll watch."

"We can't leave a man behind, all the soldiers gotta stay and help," Gus announced while snapping into a salute. Spinelli smiled remembering how Gus had gone to a military camp over the summer. 'So that's how he got so muscular' Spinelli thought. 'Hey, he's taller too! I thought he looked different. …Though not as different as me apparently.'

"Gus is right, no friend should pine alone. Come along, we shall find an activity we can all partake in," Mikey stated. They tried hopscotch, foursquare, jump rope, everything, but nothing could accommodate Spinelli's strappy sandals.

"Sorry guys, I'll wear my boots tomorrow I guess."

"No big, besides, homeroom is about to start," TJ called then they all ran off to homeroom together. Homeroom, lunch and gym were the only classes that they all shared. Apart from that; Mikey and Gretch were in the same honors English, TJ and Vince were in Algebra I CP, Spinelli, Gus and Mikey had Bio CP, Gretchen and, surprisingly, Spinelli shared World History Honors I (history was Spinelli's best and favorite subject besides gym) and finally, Spinelli and TJ both had Art I as an elective. TJ hadn't known what to take, so Spinelli had told him he should take art with her after seeing some of his cool cartoon doodles which were actually pretty good.

Spinelli was relieved when the bell rang. It wasn't that school had been bad, it had been great! Her classes were really interesting and almost all her teachers (with the exception of her Spanish teacher, Sra. Perez) were incredibly cool. Spinelli grumbled, Spanish was by far her worst subject, and she hated that she had to take a language anyway! She already knew two for crying out loud, English and Italian! But aside from that, Spinelli needed to talk to Mia about her new look, she just wasn't sure it was for her. Unless it came with a guarantee of getting TJ to notice her, she didn't want to wear the frilly clothes a second longer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Look Mia, we've gotta talk," Spinelli started nervously. Mia was in her room updating her facebook status. Mia looked at her quizzically.

"So talk," Mia stated simply and coldly. She was looking bored and irritated with Spinelli, she wanted to get back to her new friends. Spinelli twirled the ends of her hair nervously.

"I don't want to dress up in these girly clothes anymore, they're just not me. I can't play dodge ball, or run or do anything! And my friends think I look weird," Spinelli complained. Mia stared at her, looking her over.

"First things first, why would you want to play dodge ball anyway? Second, if you put your old hideous clothes back on, you will be single for the rest of your life. Is that really what you want?" Mia asked in a voice dripping with scorn. Spinelli sighed, when Mia put it like that, it was to argue with her. Mia knew so much about fashion and guys that she was probably right anyway.

So for the next few weeks, Spinelli arrived in girly clothes to school, couldn't participate in games with her friends, and couldn't hang out with them after school either. All courtesy of Mia. Mia had taken up all of Spinelli's time teaching her how to be cool. Spinelli hated it, she felt her personality fading away, but she assured herself that once TJ noticed her, as more than a friend, it would all be worth it, and her attitude would be back. But then one day, she decided that she wasn't going to listen to one of Mia's new schemes.

"You want me to do what?!? Befriend the Ashleys, no fucking way! I've hated them since kindergarten. And they would never accept me! They hate me too."

"No they will accept you alright. Unless they want me to ruin their social lives, the thing they care about most," Mia said coolly. Almost overnight Mia had become the most popular girl in school, and she was only a junior. She hung out with her three new besties;, Giana, Isabelle, Aimee and Cierra along with Mia, they called their group M.A.G.I.C. She also had a really hot senior boyfriend named Kris. Everyone knew Mia, she was the queen of the school, and could ruin any one's reputation.

So that was that, Spinelli was now called Ashley, and was officially one of them. Now that she was an Ashley, they were really nice to her, well as nice as they could be. They gossiped with her, and took her shopping. It was so boring. Spinelli hated it, but what could she do? She felt powerless; Mia would ruin her rep and her friendship with her real friends if she didn't hang out with the Ashleys.

Ashley S. was walking through the halls with Ashley Q., her favorite Ashley. Ashley Q. actually had some interest in sports, so they had more in common than Ashley S. did with the others. But while Ashley Q. was talking about the scandalous behavior of Aimee (one of Mia's girls), Ashley S. saw TJ Detweiler. He was walking through the halls and laughing with Vince, Gus, Mikey and Gretchen, all her old best friends. Then TJ turned and caught Ashley's eye and he stopped laughing and suddenly looked very sad. Spinelli was about to wave to him when the people in the hall way all started to shift closer to the walls. It was like a ripple effect and Ashley realized that Mia must be coming down the hall. Mia stopped briefly to talk to Ashley S. and Ashley Q., the Ashleys were like a younger version, the apprentices of MAGIC. But Ashley S. wasn't paying attention to her famous cousin and the rest of MAGIC, she was still focused on that heartbroken look on TJ's face. Ashley S. turned to Mia and dramatically took her orange ski cap out of her bag and placed it back on her head where it belonged. Mia's eye twitched dangerously, she looked ready to explode. Ashley Q. looked nervously at Mia and disgustedly at Ashley S., no Spinelli, and backed away nearer to Mia. The rest of the crowd gasped and held their breath, the only friendly face in the crowd was TJ's, even though he was looking a little shocked.

"What do you think you're doing? Take that fucking ugly hat off right now. You're being an embarrassment to me and to our family Ashley S." Mia told Spinelli quietly and deadly. Spinelli kept the hat on her head and her head help high.

"No, the hat stays, and the boots are coming back tomorrow. Oh and one more thing, my name isn't Ashley S. either, its Spinelli," Spinelli announced defiantly.

"You little bitch, should I tell everyone the reason that you wanted to look like this? Anyway, what you think doesn't matter anyway. You're just a stupid little freshman who's jealous of me! Your such a loser, that I had to bribe the Ashleys to hang out with you!" Mia screamed, flying into a rage. Spinelli wasn't sure how to react, she opened her mouth to fight back, but she didn't know what to say. What if Mia told everyone that she had done it all for TJ? Just then all the heads in the crowd turned from Mia and Spinelli swiveled around to look at what was going on. Her heart did flip-flops when she saw exactly what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

There was TJ dragging a chair out into the middle of the hallway. He placed it right smack in the middle, stood up on it and looked around at the rest of the kids. Now that TJ was standing on the chair, he felt a little nervous; he didn't even know what to say. All he knew was that his best friend was being humiliated in front of the entire school and he needed to do something. He coughed nervously and began to talk.

"Don't you guys see what's happening? Mia is bullying her own cousin and no one even says anything? You know what I don't get, why people even like people like Mia, people who just put others down to raise themselves up. Besides a handful of people, can anyone say that they actually like Mia? You guys just don't want to stand up to her because you're scared. Well I'm going to stand up for me, for Spinelli, and for the rest of you who don't want Mia to bully the rest of the school. Is anyone with me?"

First, only the gang went to join Teej, but one by one the other students walked over to him and looked expectantly from him to Mia. Mia looked one part angry and two parts shocked. Never before had a group of students ever hated her this much. In her old school, and she had thought in this one too, she was beloved as Miss Popularity. What if everyone hated her? Suddenly, with all the shouting going on, Ashley Q. met up with the other Ashleys and they left Mia and the rest of MAGIC in favor of TJ. They were embarrassed to be around Mia now because everyone was declaring the mean things that Mia had said to them, or things that she had forced them to do. Her allies were leaving her! Giana and Isabelle soon left her side too; they wanted to get out of the way before the crowd became really pissed at Mia. Cierra followed them shortly after leaving only Aimee and Kris. Mia knew that Aimee would stick around, but she was a little surprised that Kris stayed so long; they didn't actually like each other that much, and were only dating for the popularity. And then on cue, as if she jinxed it, Kris vanished into the crowd, probably to find Cierra, who was always flirting with him. The students looked like they were predators going in for the kill, and just before things got nasty, TJ stepped in.

"Hang on, wait a second! Just 'cuz Mia did something wrong doesn't mean we have to punish her. Mia will be returning to Italy soon anyway, so we won't even have to see her after this. Are we really going to stoop to her level?

From the ashamed crowd came murmurs of "no, 'course not" and TJ stepped down from his chair satisfied. After the crowds cleared up TJ and the gang walked over to Spinelli. Spinelli paused awkwardly, looking for something to say, she didn't know what to say to her old best friends, how to tell them how grateful and sorry she was.

"Wow guys thanks a lot. It was really great of you to come through for me like that even after I treated ya'll like dirt. So I just wanted to say thanks, and can you guys ever forgive me for being an Ashley?" TJ grinned.

"No problem Spinelli, we're just happy to have you back."

"So do you all want to go to Kelso's later, you know as a reunion or something?" Vince recommended.

"My treat!" he added. Spinelli smiled, how could she resist Kelso's with her old best friends?

"You know Vince; you couldn't have suggested anything better!" Spinelli rejoined. Then Gus jumped in.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Mikey, Gretchen, Vince and Gus all raced towards their bikes. But Spinelli and TJ stayed behind.

"Hang on guys, we'll catch up with you later," Spinelli called after them.

"You know Spin, it's really great to have you back, and we all really missed you. I missed you a lot too," He told her shyly.

"I'm sorry Teej, really I am, but I just did it so that I could get you to notice me," She waited hesitantly for his reaction. When he just gave her a very confused look she added

"as a girl" A dazzling smile lit up TJ's face.

"You really didn't have to go through all that trouble, I like you a lot better as Spinelli, not Ashley S. But, I totally wouldn't mind it if you took Mia's advice a little bit and buy a dress. Spinelli, who had looked so dreamy previously, made a grimace and it was like a storm cloud just crossed over the sun. TJ grinned at her and finished his sentence.

"A dress so that I could take you to homecoming, you know as my date," He finished anxiously waiting her answer. Spinelli broke into a grin.

"Aw Teej, I'd love to go to homecoming with you! But what are we gonna tell the gang, won't it be weird for them?"

"Nah, they all know that I like you, I think they'll be pretty cool about it." They both smiled at each other and reached for each other's hand as they walked to Kelso's. When the gang saw them together Mikey followed by the others got up and cheered. At this, Spinelli became very embarrassed and turned as red as the strawberry smoothie that Gretchen was drinking.

"If ya'll tease me and TJ about this ever, I'll cream every stinking one of ya!" Instead of cowering the five friends gave each other a knowing look.

"She's back," they chorused simultaneously.


End file.
